She doesn’t pull any punches. She is ready to fight it out, and the stronger the competition, the more enjoyable is the fight. She teaches her young daughter also the same lesson. For, as she puts it, ‘Zindagi me muqabla kabhi baraabari ka nahi hoga’ (Competition in life will not be with equals), a la Cadbury Bournvita.
She even dares to ask why she should be the only one doing the domestic chores. Or why washing clothes is considered to be “women’s work” as in the Ariel ‘Share the load’ campaign or the more recent Lloyd washing machine ad.
So who is this new woman that is increasingly making her presence felt on television screens. Is she real? Or just a fantasy created by the advertising industry? Has the industry, decried for long for objectifying women, suddenly become gender sensitive? Or it sees a potential best-seller in the script that has an empowered woman as its protagonist?
“Creativity in India no longer sits on the fringes. It stands right in the middle of the society,” says Josy Paul, chief creative officer and chairman, BBDO India. Paul insists that the junking of gender stereotypes in Indian advertising isn’t just a coincidence.
“Clients are not just taking risks, they are taking sides—and going all out and aligning themselves with national agendas. It is no longer just about selling but about leading consumers to a better place.”
And it’s paying dividends in more ways than one. BBDO’s Touch the Pickle campaign for Procter & Gamble’s sanitary napkins brand Whisper this year won the Grand Prix in the Glass Lion category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The movement which aimed to break the social taboos around menstruation initiated under the brand campaign called Kadam Badhaye Ja saw almost 3 million women pledging to “touch the pickle jar” and helped Whisper’s share grew from 21% to 91% in its category. The Glass Lion category introduced this year recognises work that implicitly or explicitly addresses issues of gender inequality or prejudice, through the conscious representation of gender in advertising.
In January this year, P&G again launched a powerful new campaign for its laundry brand Ariel urging men to “share the load”. In a country where 90% of women do all the household chores themselves, the campaign set out by asking an important question on national media: ‘Is laundry only a woman’s job?’ The brand then stepped forward and launched the first ever ‘his and her’ pack. Not enough, it tied up with matrimonial websites to promote this discussion. Ariel even got clothing brands to re-look at their wash care labels and add a new washing instruction ‘Can be washed by men and women’. BBDO India’s work for Ariel went on to win a Glass Lion as well.
“The Glass Lion is a fantastic idea because it responds so sensitively to our times. It shines the light on gender equality issues and on things that really matter. It is about marketing that questions stereo- types while driving business results,” adds Paul.
According to a study by IAA-Hansa Research titled Changing trends in portrayal of women in Indian advertising, 91% of men and women say the latter are shouldering equal responsibilities with men in the family. The respondents were senior marketing managers and creative directors of advertising agencies across Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, the people involved in the final roll-out of much of the advertising we see in media today. The research highlighted that today, in advertising, women are shown as energetic, multi-taskers, self-confident and modern.
Tanishq, whose recent campaigns have tried to break gender stereotypes, emphasizes that it’s absolutely imperative for a brand to constantly evolve because the consumer base is constantly evolving. Mindsets change, people are influenced in so many ways and therefore it is important that brands keep abreast of the changing times and trends. “With a plethora of brands talking to the same consumer, coming up with products and campaigns that truly break stereotypes and stick,is not easy. But I think the marriage between brands and advertising is only going to get bigger and bolder in the future. Conviction in an insight and confidence in its delivery is what will drive bigger, better and more thoughtful campa- igns,” says Deepika Tiwari, general manager—marketing, Tanishq.
Moreover, with social media influencing popular opinions, brands cannot afford to ignore the online debates on gender equality and portrayal of women in ads.
“With social media being quick to influence opinions, brand influencers are everywhere. In a matter of seconds an offensive comment can go viral and the backlash on a brand is enormous,” says Tista Sen, national creative director and senior vice president, J Walter Thompson, who was on the jury of the Glass Lion award. “At the same time brands should evolve and start portraying women in a more progressive light and not shy away from addressing issues that women face. Taking a cultural barrier head-on or handling an uncomfortable regressive thought process and then championing the cause is what true women empowerment is all about,” adds Sen.
It isn’t only for women-centric products or products that are perceived to be used by women more that creative heads are ready to break the glass ceiling. Giving the example of the Will of Steel campaign for JSW Group, Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director for Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia, agrees with the change that’s sweeping Indian advertising. “Things are much better now and will definitely get better in the coming times. Today, stories of Geeta Phogat, Indian’s first woman to win a gold medal in wrestling at Commonwealth Games in 2010 on which the TVC is based on, are breaking norms and making the whole fraternity proud.”
Some campaigns such as Dove’s Real Beauty or Whisper’s Touch the Pickle break certain myths that exist in society. Hence, talking about these issues and trying to erase them is a good sign. Tanishq’s recent work on remarriage has also attempted to break the gender stereotype to an extent. Similarly, Havells had also run a series around breaking various existing stereotypes with its Respect for women campaign.
“At HDFC Life, we are extremely careful about the kind of women we represent through our communication. We were one of the firsts to show a strong, independent woman, buying her father a big car as early as 2008 and even won a Laadli Media Award for this reflection of women,” says Sanjay Tripathy, senior executive vice-president (marketing, product, digital & e-commerce), HDFC Life, who thinks that brands have to change with time as there is a strong backlash from certain sections of society every time a regressive, stereotype ad runs on television.
The insurance industry where men are the predominant target group, most advertisements are targeted at men. It’s the opposite for FMCG brands which believe that the woman, or rather the mother, is the key decision-maker, and therefore look at her as only a housebound nurturer. But now that perception is changing — she is now competitive, with or without a career, driving her kids around the city, pushing them to beat her as the ultimate litmus test, without any visible help from the father. Take for instance, Cadbury Bournvita’s Aadatein campaign, where the mother is shown running every day along with her son, or pushing her daughter not to give up.
However, there are a few who believe that though there are evolved clients and brands where conversations around the portrayal of women are as important as their strategic vision, these are few and far in-between. For every commercial that makes you sit up and say ‘wow’, there are five that are regressive and offensive.
“We are battling with changing mindsets that have been the basis of Indian culture and shaped the way we think, write and create. What is interesting is we are more aware as a nation. We are conscious and we are dealing with it in the school, in the workplace, in society. And that is heartening. But it would be very very foolish to think we are leading the way. Open any newspaper any day of the week. Until women abuse is no longer front page news, there is no change, says Sen.
Agrees Nisha Singhania, co-founder and director, Infectious, an independent ad agency, who says that while there are some change; a lot more needs to be done. “Society as a whole needs to change its perception regarding women. India has a long way to go when it comes to gender equality.”
“One needs to read between the lines too,” says Sarla Bijapurkar, a sociologist, adding, “If a woman is shown as a owner of a car while sitting inside, it has a positive impact compared to a woman shown as a owner but outside the car. In the latter case, the message is that the car is as pretty as her.”
Bijapurkar, though agrees that a few ads are moving beyond stereotyping, but a lot more needs to be done. “Take the Airtel ad, the first half shows the woman as the boss who is just doing her job, but the second half of the ad shows that it is her ‘duty’ to cook for her husband. How is it breaking the stereotype?” she questions.
BBDO’s Paul sees the glass as half full and believes that India’s performance this year at Cannes has been one of the best so far because it has won for the work which is impacting the lives of millions in the country. “See how our award winning works are traveling around the world. Sheryl Sandberg is sharing the winning Glass Lion work on Facebook with millions of her followers and talking about it at marketing forums. International media have stood up and applauded our campaigns. India is leading the way for gender equality and shattering gender stereotypes. India’s real work is having a real impact globally.”